HARDY!!! COLOCASIAS !!! Top secret :>)

Well I think a lot of you are now familiar with the Colocasia pink china. Which I have grown here in zone 6 for the past 7 years. I have also been testing Gigantea and the big dipper. Which have both shown to be very hardy here also if protected. So this year and last year I tried to cross a lot of Colocasias onto pink china or pink china on to other forms. I have to say it was very difficult and even when i did do it the seedlings had rotted on me and many died. Which was very depressing. This year I tried many crosses with big dipper, milky way, pink china, miranda and a few new forms. I am still hoping for Gigantea to flower. These crosses have seem to take on most it has taken me a few years to know exactly when to pollinate and how to treat the flowers.
Here is some info you may find interesting these were forms I named. Which I see people use the names to these all the time now.

Pink china
big dipper
milky way
miranda
bloody mary
candy cane


Now for the very interesting news. Black magic is one I love to work with dark plants are extremely interesting. Although I hate to count chickens before they hatch. I will let you know the parents to this one shown in the picture. This is a seedling off of pink china that was crossed with black magic. Now I have a few forms two which are black and one that is a gray color and three others that look more like pink china. If I am lucky and I like to think I am. This will be the first hardy black elephant ear and should grow well here in the ground if mulched a bit. Should be nice growing under the hardy basjoo bananas I figure. This is the first full season this seedling has had. It has also NOT been tested yet for hardiness. It will probably get tested next season. After that patient and then TC and hopefully to you guys to test it out. So thought it does not look like much more than Black magic it has potential to be an amazing Colocasia for us northern folk. The picture is a bit off on color but I am sure you can get the picture. THANKS

This is so lovely, never seen such colors in COLOCASIAS.
Kaleem

Dude ...... :o)

Nice job Brian!

I knew you'd been working hard on the crosses.
I didn't figure Colocasia's were in the mix.

I picked some of the above named cultivars and a few Musa at a garden viewing and sale here in the Spring of 2003.
As the guy where bought them was from Louisville I'd say they are your stock.
(When I asked if he knew of you he changed the subject REAL fast, lol)

I hope this new x turns out hardy.
I can see several uses for it already!

BTW: The China Pink I got have both thrown their first leaves.
Amazingly fast grower.
You could literally see the difference in the plant by the hour.

Hope you don't mind.
I color corrected your shot.
I figured you hadn't been working in beet juice all day :)

Ric

Looks about right I will try to take another pic. I have no idea who the seller was I get a lot of nice people but also the few odd ones around here from time to time. These I am working on will have patients so only people I allow can sell them. But its a lot like the music industry you cannot control something like this. I just hope people relize that this is sometimes my bread and butter. If I cannot make a living at doing it I may have to change directions on what I breed and why. It takes years to get a plant to the market and not seeing any return is very depressing after all that work on one plant.

I can't wait for more hardy EE's for our zone. My Pink China is amazing. She is growing in leaps and bounds. Love her.

If this new one works out I will defiantly have to have her.

Linda

It will be fun to watch this in developement.
I've seen you take 'William's Hybrid' thru it's paces to a well known plant.

Here's China Pink as of a few minutes ago.
Yesterday it was just a tip leaf poking out...............

Ric

Gorgeous! I can't thank you enough for trying to bring the tropics to us 'zone challenged' people! I have kept an eye on your plants for year or two now, ever since I bought an Alocasia Williamsii off ebay and tracked down the source. I am thrilled you joined DG. I don't post often but I lurk. I'm leaving China Pink and Big Dipper out for the winter here ,mulched of course. It is such a pain digging up my entire yard and putting half of it in the spare bedroom I use as a winter greenhouse and the other half in the crawl space to be dormant for the winter. It would be so nice to have more to leave in place.... except that darn forgetting what's planted where part..... I've chopped up my fair share of bulbs digging around in the spring. :)

I have the same problem I use bamboo stakes with tags to know what is were. Usually though pink china will start springing up really early if in full sun. If not it takes awhile for the ground to warm up in the shady areas.

Todays hybrids were milky way with pink china 2 flowers. Black runner with pink china 3 different flowers.

Here is a better pic.

I luv your new baby! Awesome colors! If you ever want someone to test in the far north...you know where I am. I'm going to wait until early Spring to order your China Pink.
:) Donna

It is an impressive looking EE.
Even if it doesn't turn out hardy there it's a keeper.

Is it pupping or running.

Ric

Ohhh, and a lovely top secret that is too!

Hey Brian, are you going to be at the plant sale at Mounts Bot here in FL in Nov with some of your stuff? I would love to get some of your ideas for my back gazeebo area along with my inground planters in my pool cage as I am doing it in an all tropical theme and am looking for color other than coleus. The EE's with color are fabulous. Let me know if you plan to have a booth so me and all my buds can meet you and see your stuff! I have recently developed this love for the tropicals and their leaves and am fascinated with your knowledge of EE's.

Unofortunatly I have been to Florida twice in the last few months and it has really put a hurt on my wallet. I am getting ready now for winter. Their are a few shows I would love to go to. Agri starts is having a hybridizers meeting and they want me to go to that. I hopefully will be able to but not yet sure on that.

Brian, I share your love of calocasias/Alocasias, I have several and have lost several. Do you have a list somwhere or catelog of some you would sell? I had "Milky way " once, but I lost it as a baby. I would love to find another, also "Mickey Mouse".

If you have specific questions on certain plants please email me thanks

Another pic from today of this possibly hardy black colocasia.
I have noticed that it does not turn completely black but has some odd coloration around the veins. The new leaves come out bright neon like green wtih dark purple veins.

Very nice. Good job.

Wow Brian I like that one, it does seem to be a little different then my black magic. Went you say a possible hardy, are you talking about to your zone, because I thank we are in the same time zone. More hardys we can get the better I am going to like it.

Linda


I can't spell for anything. Had to correct from tardies to hardys.

This message was edited Oct 12, 2005 9:30 AM

Linda,
I think he meant Hardiness Zone.
He'd be a 6a or b.
As he's away from the Ohio River it could go either way.
mystic is South of us but at least 1/2 a zone cooler.

Ric

What a great picture of the different colored leaves together. I really like the dark purple ones.

Kell, if I understand correctly, that is all one plant. The new leaves are green and they turn purple/black as they age. It is really quite a show.

Oh.......Linda. I want it then, now. LOL

Yes, I do too.

The mother plant has been tested in zone 5 and has done well for 6 years if slightly mulched. It is much tougher than most forms and I have had bulbs on top of the ground not and still survive. This is hopefully just a new form of Black Colocasia that will be hardier than the basjoo banana. The hope is to have a hardy tropical selection anyone can grow all the way up to canada!

When will this be available?

YES when will it become available, got to have one.

I will be growing a field of these next year. I have them personally TCed a few hundered for myself. Then they are tested for hardiness. Unfortunatly that means before I will release any I have to test it. If the sucsess rate if very high testing with mulch and with out in different situations. I will then patient it and begin selling them. So we are looking at some good pics of the plant next season then possibly selling of plants in 2007. I would love to have them ready next year and I could possible do so. But I need the patient on it specially if its that hardy. Hope you guys can wait.

Good luck, it's a beauty.

I would be tickled to death to test it in zone 11 with 150" of rain per year!!!! Really tough growing conditions...you need to know how it will do under these dire conditions!!!

Carol

My theory is that it grows really well here in zone 9, and I would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and test it. It's a beautiful plant.

Hi, here from the coleus forum.....

I'm in 10b....in the middle...I'll test....hehehe



Hap

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

I am sure you all would love to test the plant. But it looks at though its going to need a patient before it leaves me. Will let the group know all about it in the near future. Thanks

Best of luck.....you have a beauty..

Hap

Brian...those are beatiful colors! I'd love to see them in my Florida garden one day, as with a great many colocasia/alocasias, they tend to go crazy with growth in a natural tropical enviroment. Keep up the fantastic work!
MerryMary

new seedlings are finally sprouting. I will need a few acres to plant all of them probably.

more pics of the seedlings

New hybrid not yet named light green leaves dark purple veins.